L'Oreal (UK) Ltd t/a Maybelline (Maybelline) said their advertising agency had been very careful to ensure the ad showed lashes that were realistic in length, thickness and quantity, and to ensure that the ad complied with the CAP Help Note on the use of production techniques in cosmetics advertising.

Maybelline provided a list of product ingredients and said the product contained film-forming, lash-adhering cationic and anionic polymers and volumising waxes that coated the lashes on application, increasing thickness and length. They said the claw brush was specially designed to catch every lash and comb lashes out at the corners. They said the combination of the product's formula and the brush lengthened the look of lashes at the corners and made them look fuller, giving a feline flick and open-eyed intense look.

Maybelline provided the results of volume testing and photographs of consumers wearing the product, and said they used the photos as a reference point to ensure the illustrated effect was achievable. They said the ad images were in line with the consumer photos, despite the fact that the consumer photos were amateur photos while the ad was professionally produced and featured a highly stylised model.

Maybelline said they submitted a press ad with an almost identical image of the lashes to the CAP Copy Advice team, who said they considered that the illustrated effect was likely to be acceptable under the CAP Code.

Clearcast said they had been provided with before and after shots of models using the product, and had been assured by the agency and the advertiser that the ad had been created in line with the CAP Help Note on production techniques in cosmetics advertising. They said on that basis they thought the ad should be approved.